I've done it by (IIRC) 15mm (or possibly 20 – I'll check!) which seems to complement the stiffer Hagon progressive springs I have very nicely. It doesn't feel twitchy or unstable at high speed at all and drops into corners beautifully.

I also have Hagon shocks, on their middle setting (I weigh c. 11 stone), and I use BT45s at 36psi F 40.5 psi R.

Last edited by jchesshyre on Sun 04 Jan 2015, 5:11 pm; edited 1 time in total

thanks, would be interested to know what you dropped it by exactly however atleast for the moment I'll be running standard springs on the front - might replace with hagons at some point but would rather upgrade the rears first.

....while on the subject is it worth holding off rebuilding the forks till I get some hagon progressive springs? are they really that much different? as the springs already seem to have a progressive coil to them (2002 bike)

I found the difference to be night and day when I changed mine, and the existing springs only had about 13,000 miles on them. I use 10W fork oil (slightly heavier than Hagon's recommended 7.5W). I'd tentatively suggest you replace the fork springs before the shocks, unless the latter are utterly f*cked.

I reckon the stock springs are geared a bit more towards comfort than precise handling, and the steering geometry is obviously set to go with this. There's no doubt that the ride's harder with the Hagon equipment, but it doesn't bother me at all – it's not uncomfortable and if I'd wanted a Gold Wing I'd have got one!

Keen to hear how you get on with the new springs. I was tempted to do it earlier but went with 20w oil, 120mm airgap with the original springs (copied from the guys over on the race forum) lowered the forks 10mm. It a great improvement. Firm ride and turns in really fast. Tried 15w oil first and 5mm drop but it wasn't firm enough.

NB the air gap and recommended oil weight for the Hagons is different from stock: 140mm and 7.5W are what they specify. Also the spacers aren't used. Also they go the opposite way up from the stock ones: closer wound coils at the top. Enjoy! It'll feel like it's stuck to the road.

I used the Haynes to dismantle them to I could get the lowers coated - as you say it's pretty good. I also have all of the workshop manuals aswell as a whole heap of photos I took during the disassembly so I was pretty confident about the re-assembly but swapping out the springs has introduced an unknown element into the mix so trying to get all my dumb questions out the way now lol

Yes that's right. So that turning the top cap under pressure doesn't damage the spring, or vice versa.

It says this in the manual but be very careful not to cross-thread the top caps, and also make sure the threads are completely clean. I found them an arse to get back on as you have to push down fairly hard whilst not cross-threading them. Two tips for this: 1. remove the handlebars. 2. turn anti-clockwise until you feel/hear a click, then start tightening. The upward pressure of the spring makes it a little tricky to keep the cap lined up but you'll get there!